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Of the 35 bowl games played this college football bowl season, only one--the Heart of Dallas Bowl--does not have a corporate sponsor listed in its name. While not a named sponsor, the longest-standing college football bowl game partnership was born 57 years ago, when a college football fan had an idea to enrich Rose Bowl participants' experience and benefit his business. A native of Pasadena, CA, Richard N. Frank, the former chairman of Lawry's Restaurants, Inc. created the Lawry's Beef Bowl in 1956. Since 1956, Frank's pre-bowl game brainchild has not only managed to feed thousands of college football players tens-of-thousands of pounds of prime rib, but it has also created unique marketing opportunities for Frank's restaurants, including Lawry's The Prime Rib, in Beverly Hills, CA, where Rose Bowl teams feast in the days leading up to the game.

Frank's son, Richard R., who currently serves as the CEO of Lawry's Restaurants, Inc., explains what led his dad to create the Lawry's Beef Bowl: "My dad was born in Pasadena and went to his first Rose Bowl Game when he was 7-years-old in 1931. He’s only missed six games ever since. In the mid-1950s, my dad thought it would be fun to feed the Rose Bowl's football teams. He did it because he thought it’d be fun and a good publicity marketing stunt."

Frank and Lawry's have definitely managed to feed football teams over the last 57 years. Since its inception, the Lawry's Beef Bowl has fed over 20,000 Rose Bowl players and coaches more than 78,000 pounds of Lawry's roasted prime rib. Frank asserts that players are limited to two, 22 oz. bone-in servings of prime rib during their team's respective dinner. However, players and coaches still manage to put down a significant amount of beef. For instance, Purdue holds the Lawry's Beef Bowl record for consuming the greatest amount of prime rib: 734 pounds prior to the 2001 Rose Bowl Game.

Both teams playing in the Rose Bowl are invited to participate in Lawry's Beef Bowl. Lawry's hosts each team on separate nights, and each team is allowed to bring 145 people. Since 1983, Lawry's has also hosted Beef Bowl events for each team playing in the Cotton Bowl. Lawry's pays for each Beef Bowl attende's meal. According to Frank, it costs Lawry's $22,000.00 to host each team at the Lawry's Beef Bowl.

Richard N. Frank's 1957 idea to bring college football players to his restaurant while they were in town for the Rose Bowl Game not only served his interests as a football fan and business owner. Rather, it arguably launched the stream of marketing present in today's college bowl game landscape. In utilizing a creative method to partner with the Rose Bowl, Frank was able to develop a relatively cost-efficient way for his business to benefit from the Rose Bowl. Frank's plan arguably worked, as the Lawry's Beef Bowl is older than 30 of the 35 bowl games that will be held this college football bowl season.

These days, however, most college bowl game partners generally take neither a cost-effective nor creative marketing approach. Save for title sponsors, this is perhaps to the peril of bowl game partners, because they oftentimes shell out large sums of money on unmemorable marketing campaigns. Frank notes that the creative measure taken by his father in launching the Lawry's Beef Bowl has equated to goodwill for the family's restaurant over the years: "It has been good for marketing over the years. People associate Lawry’s with the Beef Bowl. Now, we even host a tailgate party before USC home football games and will start hosting one before UCLA home football games." The notoriety gained from the Lawry's Beef Bowl over the years has even led Lawry's The Prime Rib to add a "Beef Bowl Cut" selection to its menu, which notes that it is "a double sized cut."

Launching the Lawry's Beef Bowl has been a winning venture for Lawry's The Prime Rib and the Lawry's chain of restaurants. Subsequently, teams arguably have reason to lay their hearts on the line at the Lawry's Beef Bowl. According to the restaurant, the team that consumes the most prime rib during the Lawry's Beef Bowl goes on to win the Rose Bowl 69.6 percent of the time. That being said, Stanford and Wisconsin fans have a lot of cheering to do this week, both around the dinner table and on the gridiron.